Phishing Scams Incorporate SSL Certificates

dettifoss writes "Netcraft reports: `Internet "phishing" scams are incorporating the use of SSL certificates in their efforts to trick users into divulging sensitive login information for financial accounts.' Perhaps more disturbingly: `Scammers can also configure their web server so that deceptive SSL certificates won't trigger an alert in the user's browser. "One of the SSL encoding methods is 'plain text'," Neal Krawetz from Secure Science Corporation noted in the SANS post on the issue. "Most SSL servers have this disabled by default, but most browsers support it. When plain text is used, no central certificate authority is consulted and the user never sees a message asking if a certificate should be accepted.'"

Comments

Interface issue

[Overly Critical Guy]

The browser should somehow make it more prominent then, without annoying the user. If you really wanted to be safe, have the window give itself a red border around the page, instead of a tiny little lock at the bottom. People would notice a red border, yet it wouldn't be intrusive.